Adaptive traffic manager for wireless applications

ABSTRACT

An adaptive traffic manager assembly, which includes a computing module configured to operate on a current adaptive traffic manager configuration, and includes an adapting mechanism configured to adaptively change the current adaptive traffic manager configuration according to current wireless link conditions, a current Adaptive Coding and Modification (ACM) profile, or upon detection of an ACM event, and further includes a switch assembly configured to receive a first signal over a wired link and to output a second signal over a wireless link, and configured to store the current adaptive traffic manager configuration, and is further configured to automatically change a modulation and coding scheme associated with the current adaptive traffic manager configuration upon receiving an instruction from the computing module, in response to the detection of the ACM event.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 61/547,344, filed Oct. 14, 2011, which is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to adaptive traffic management, and morespecifically to an adaptive link traffic manager.

2. Related Art

Traditionally, the majority of consumer demand in the area of mobilebackhaul networking has been directed to voice services. However,recently the market for mobile backhaul services has begun to change. Inparticular, the mobile backhaul space is experiencing a growing demandfor increased capacity as well as a shift from voice services to dataservices. These factors are driving mobile backhaul networks towardshigh capacity IP/Ethernet connections.

Similarly, mobile backhaul networking is experiencing a transition to 4Gand LTE networks. This transition is also driving the need for highercapacity, and packet traffic in mobile backhaul networks.

However, there is an inherent problem associated with the wirelessconnections that make up these mobile backhaul networks. Specifically,in wireless connections, unlike wired connections, such as fiber opticcable, or copper cable, to provide some examples, link capacity maychange for various reasons including, for example, environmentalconditions. Therefore, as mobile backhaul networks continue totransition to 4G and LTE networks, and as systems rely more and more onthese wireless links, it is increasingly becoming a problem to cope withthese changing link conditions. Thus, there is a need for a trafficmanagement device that can adapt by altering settings as necessaryaccording to wireless link conditions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the invention are described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicateidentical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left mostdigit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which thereference number first appears.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an Adaptive Code and Modulation (ACM) awaretraffic manager according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a ACM aware traffic manager utilizedfor video services according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a ACM aware traffic managerutilizing weighted random early detection (WRED) to preserve latencyaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a ACM aware traffic manager utilizingweighted fair queuing (WFQ) to preserve a committed information rate(CIR) on bandwidth reduction according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of multiple ACM aware traffic managersusing redirection according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention;and

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of exemplary operation steps of utilizing a ACMaware traffic manager to optimize traffic over a wireless link accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicateidentical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements.The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by theleftmost digit(s) in the reference number

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following Detailed Description refers to accompanying drawings toillustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the invention.References in the Detailed Description to “one exemplary embodiment,”“an exemplary embodiment,” “an example exemplary embodiment,” etc.,indicate that the exemplary embodiment described may include aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplaryembodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, when a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anexemplary embodiment, it is within the knowledge of those skilled in therelevant art(s) to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitlydescribed.

The exemplary embodiments described herein are provided for illustrativepurposes, and are not limiting. Other exemplary embodiments arepossible, and modifications may be made to the exemplary embodimentswithin the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the DetailedDescription is not meant to limit the invention. Rather, the scope ofthe invention is defined only in accordance with the following claimsand their equivalents.

Embodiments of the invention may be implemented in hardware, firmware,software, or any combination thereof. Embodiments of the invention mayalso be implemented as instructions stored on a machine-readable medium,which may be read and executed by one or more processors. Amachine-readable medium may include any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., acomputing device). For example, a machine-readable medium may includeread only memory (ROM); random access memory (RAM); magnetic diskstorage media; optical storage media; flash memory devices; electrical,optical, acoustical or other forms of propagated signals (e.g., carrierwaves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.), and others. Further,firmware, software, routines, instructions may be described herein asperforming certain actions. However, it should be appreciated that suchdescriptions are merely for convenience and that such actions in factresult from computing devices, processors, controllers, or other devicesexecuting the firmware, software, routines, instructions, etc.

The following Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments will sofully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, byapplying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modifyand/or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments,without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention. Therefore, such adaptations and modificationsare intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents ofthe exemplary embodiments based upon the teaching and guidance presentedherein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminologyherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, suchthat the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is tobe interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of theteachings herein.

Although the description of the present invention is to be described interms of wireless communication, those skilled in the relevant art(s)will recognize that the present invention may be applicable to othercommunications that use wired or other types of wireless communicationwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

As discussed previously in this disclosure, in wireless connections,unlike wired connections, such as fiber optics, or copper wiring, toprovide some examples, link capacities may change according toenvironmental conditions. For microwave transmissions, Adaptive Code andModulation (ACM) techniques may be introduced using Broadcom CorporationPVG310 modem or PVG610 modern, to provide some examples; however, otherdevices may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure. Also, in packet based networks, a traffic manager(TM) or Hierarchical-TM (H-TM) supports Quality of Service (QoS) andService Level Agreements (SLA) by managing outgoing packets from anegress port. In this case, the TM assumes that a physical-layer or alink capacity does not change over time. This is due to the fact thatthe TM was designed and built for wired connections that do not have achanging link capacity over time (as the link conditions are constant).

The evolution of wireless backhaul from time division multiplexed (TDM)based to packet based traffic requires including a TM to manage thepacket stream. The ability to change TM settings according to ACMevents, such as link capacity changes to provide an example, inmicrowave systems will enable a more optimized solution as it introducesan additional dimension (adaptive TM) to the TM. This additionaldimension is the ability for the adaptive TM to change its settingsaccording to changes in the link capacity. Therefore, the presentdisclosure provides an ability to optimize packet traffic over a linkhaving an adaptive capacity.

Adaptive Coding and Modification (ACM) refers to the automaticadjustment that a wireless system can make in order to optimizeover-the-air transmission and prevent weather-related fading fromcausing communication on the link to be disrupted. When extreme weatherconditions, such as a storm, affect the transmission and receipt of dataand voice over the wireless network, an ACM-enabled radio systemautomatically changes modulation and/or coding allowing real-timeapplications to continue to run uninterrupted. The adjustment of radiocapacity requires dynamic adaption of a traffic manager within a veryshort time (in most cases less than a millisecond). Although the presentdisclosure may refer an ACM aware TM or an ACM-enabled TM, these areprovided for illustrative purposes only, and they are not intended to bethe only types of traffic managers capable of being used herein, andthey are not meant to limit this disclosure. In particular, a personhaving ordinary skill in the art(s) would recognize that any trafficmanager having an adaptive link, an adaptive physical connection, or anadaptive physical layer may be used.

An Exemplary ACM Aware Traffic Manager

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an Adaptive Code and Modulation (ACM) awaretraffic manager 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware traffic manager may be aBroadcom Corporation BCM85620 integrated circuit. The BroadcomCorporation BCM85620 is provided for illustrative purposes only, and itis not intended to be the only integrated circuit capable of being usedherein, and is not meant to limit this disclosure. In particular, anyintegrated circuit that meets the adaptive traffic managementrequirements described in this disclosure may be used.

ACM aware traffic manager 100 includes a switch assembly 102. The switchassembly 102 functions as a transmitter/receiver (transceiver). Inparticular, the switch assembly 102 may receive a first signal 104 overa wired connection 106, such as a fiber optic connection to provide anexample, and may output a second signal 108 over a wireless link 110.The ACM aware traffic manager 100 may output the second signal 108 to amodem assembly 120. In an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware trafficmanager 100 may be positioned at an opposite end of the wireless link110. In such an exemplary embodiment, the switch assembly 102 mayreceive the second signal 108 over the wireless link 110, and may outputa third signal over a different wired connection. Further, the switchassembly 102 stores a current adaptive traffic manager configuration 112that is currently being utilized by the ACM aware traffic manager 100.

The ACM aware traffic manager 100 also includes an adapting mechanism114 that adaptively changes the current adaptive traffic managerconfiguration 112 according to current link conditions, a current ACMprofile or upon detection of an ACM event, such as a wireless linkcapacity change or a change in a bit rate of the wireless link 110 toprovide some examples; however, other ACM events may be possible withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In anexemplary embodiment, the adapting mechanism 114 may store a pluralityof alternate adaptive traffic manager configurations 116, which canchange the current adaptive traffic manager configuration 112 stored inthe switch assembly 102 upon detection of the ACM event. Additionally,the ACM aware traffic manager 100 includes a computing module 118 thatperforms the actual changing of the current adaptive traffic managerconfiguration 112. In particular, the computing module 118 operates tocontrol how the switch assembly 102 adaptively changes upon detection ofthe ACM event. In an exemplary embodiment, the computing module 118adaptively changes the current adaptive traffic manager configuration112 stored in the switch assembly 102 in less than approximately 1millisecond following detection of the ACM event without interruptingthe payload flow.

Therefore, in such an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware trafficmanager 100 operates according to a bit rate of the second signal 108,which is output from the switch assembly 102. An output port of the ACMaware traffic manager 100 may be polled to determine the bit rate of thesecond signal 108, and any change in the bit rate of the second signal108 may be detected by the modem assembly 120. The ACM aware trafficmanager 100 is then updated based on the bit rate of the second signal108, which represents the bit rate of the wireless link 110. In such anexemplary embodiment, the ACM aware traffic manager 100 may be updatedon a continuous basis. In this regard, the modem assembly 120 changesthe output bit rate of the second signal 108 according to the detectedcondition of the wireless link 110. Similarly, the modem assembly 120performs the continuous updating of the ACM aware traffic manager 100 inaccordance with the condition of the wireless link 110. Further, the ACMaware traffic manager 100 is updated with hitless protection, whichmeans that the ACM aware traffic manager 100 is updated without anyrelationship to the amount of traffic on the wireless link 110.

In an exemplary embodiment, the active profiles 112 may include: Qualityof Service (QoS); 8 Class of Service Queues (CoSq) per egress port; PortShaping and Queue Shaping; Scheduler SP, RR/WRR, FQ/WFQ, DRR; PacketClassification per P-bit; and Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED) perqueue. The 8 CoSq per egress port may total up to approximately 64queues, and the number of WRED profiles may reach up to 32. Further, theACM aware traffic manager 100 may support up to 3 levels of scheduling.

An Exemplary ACM Aware Traffic Manager Utilized for Video Services

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an ACM aware traffic manager 200utilized for video services according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The ACM aware traffic manager 200 may represent anexemplary embodiment of the ACM aware traffic manager 100. The followingdisclosure will describe the application of the ACM aware trafficmanager 200 to a video service with reference to normal radio links210.1 and 210.2 each having bandwidths of 100 Mbps, and reduced radiolinks 216.1 and 216.2 each having bandwidths of 50 Mbps. However, itwill be apparent to those skilled in the related art(s) that otherbandwidths are possible without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe present disclosure. Additionally, each of the specific bandwidthsallocated to each of the service packets are provided for illustrativepurposes only, and they are not intended to be the only possiblebandwidths for each of the service packets, and they are not mean tolimit this disclosure.

In an exemplary embodiment, a plurality of service packets 202.1 and202.2 may designated for transmission over the radio links 210.1 and210.2, respectively. Each of the service packets 202.1 may include oneof a voice service packet 204.1, a video service packet 206.1, or anInternet service packet 208.1. Additionally, each of the service packets202.2 may include one of a voice service packet 204.2, a first videoservice packet 212, a second video service packet 214, or an Internetservice packet 208.2. The ACM aware traffic manager 200 may thenallocate specific bit rates for each of the service packets 202.1 and202.2 based on a set of priorities designated for each service packet202.1 and 202.2. These priorities may be stored within the ACM awaretraffic manager 200. Each of the prioritized service packets 202.1 and202.2 are then transmitted over the radio links 210.1 and 210.2,respectively.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware traffic manager 200 maydesignate the voice service packets 204.1 and 204.2 as having a highestpriority, the video service packets 206.1, 212, and 214 as having a nexthighest priority, and the Internet service packets 208.1 and 208.2 ashaving a lowest priority; however other priorities may be designated toeach of the service packets 202.1 and 202.2 without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to the top half of FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of areduction in bandwidth is shown as the reduced radio link 216.1, inwhich the ACM aware traffic manager 200 is not implemented. In such anexemplary embodiment where the ACM aware traffic manager 200 is notimplemented, upon a reduction in bandwidth (reduced radio link 216.1),the video service packet 206.1 may not function properly (e.g. poorvideo performance) and the Internet service packet 208.1 may becompletely blocked, because of the relatively low priorities of thevideo service packet 206.1 and the Internet service packet 208.1.However, by implementing the ACM aware traffic manager 200 a moreefficient reaction to the reduction in bandwidth (reduced radio link216.1) can be achieved.

Referring also to the lower half of FIG. 2, an exemplary embodiment of areduction in bandwidth is shown as the reduced radio link 216.2, inwhich the ACM aware traffic manager 200 is implemented. In such anexemplary embodiment where the ACM traffic manager 200 is implemented,the video service packet 202.1 is divided into two separate packets—amost viewed channels packet (first video service packet 212) and a leastviewed channels packet (second video service packet 214). Then upon thereduction in bandwidth (reduced radio link 216.2), the second videoservice packet 214 may be completely blocked. This will allow theInternet service packet 208.2 to still be transmitted, although thetransmission of the Internet service packet 208.2 may be at a lowerbandwidth. In such an exemplary embodiment, the ACM adaptive trafficmanager 200 allows for each of the service packets 202.2 to be managedmore efficiently, thus allowing a service provider to continue toprovide all of its services (voice, video and Internet) even when areduction in bandwidth (reduced radio link 216.2) has occurred.

An Exemplary ACM Aware Traffic Manager Utilized for Weighted RandomEarly Detection (WRED)

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an ACM aware traffic manager 300utilizing weighted random early detection (WRED) to preserve latencyaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The ACMaware traffic manager 300 may represent an exemplary embodiment of theACM aware traffic manager 100. The following disclosure will describethe application of the ACM aware traffic manager 300 utilizing weightedrandom early detection (WRED) to preserve latency with reference to anormal radio bandwidth of 100 Mbps and a reduced radio bandwidth of 50Mbps. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the relatedart(s) that other bandwidths are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, the specificaverage depth queues are provided for illustrative purposes only, andthey are not intended to be the only possible average depth queues, andthey are not mean to limit this disclosure.

WRED is a queue management algorithm, which includes congestionavoidance capabilities. Therefore, WRED can be used to cope withcongestion in data services—assuming transmission control protocol (TCP)is largely used. WRED is an extension to random early detection (RED)where a single queue may have several different queue thresholds 302 and304, and where each queue threshold 302 and 304 is associated with aparticular traffic class. In an exemplary embodiment, a queue may have alower threshold 302 for lower priority packets (drop eligible packets306), and a higher threshold 304 for higher priority packets (dropnon-eligible packets 308). In such an exemplary embodiment, as anaverage queue depth 310 begins to buildup, the drop eligible packets 306may be dropped, hence protecting the drop non-eligible packets 308 inthe same queue. In this way, Quality of Service (QoS) prioritization ismade possible for important packets from a pool of packets using thesame buffer.

Additionally, WRED relates to implementing IP protocols, such asPrecision Time Protocol (PTP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). PTP is acommonly used protocol when transferring files, while UDP is a commonlyused protocol when transferring video packets. Each of these types ofprotocol is implemented to ensure that all of the transmitted packetswill be received correctly at a receiving unit.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware traffic manager 300 isimplemented to maintain the same transmission delay whether there is thenormal radio bandwidth or the reduced radio bandwidth. In such anexemplary embodiment, the transmission delay may be calculated using thefollowing equation:Delay=Queue Depth/Radio Bandwidth.

Therefore, in the event of a reduction in radio bandwidth, the ACM awaretraffic manager 300 reduces the average queue depth 310 to ensure thatthe transmission delay remains constant. In such an exemplaryembodiment, both the lower threshold 302 and the higher threshold 304are reduced, thus increasing a probability that both the drop eligiblepackets 306 and the drop non-eligible packets 308 will be dropped (shownas the discard probability 312 in FIG. 3). Therefore, the ACM awaretraffic manager 300 controls the delay in the queue by continuouslyupdating the WRED thresholds 302 and 304.

An Exemplary ACM Aware Traffic Manager Utilized for Weighted FairQueuing (WFQ)

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an ACM aware traffic manager 400utilizing weighted fair queuing (WFQ) to preserve a committedinformation rate (CIR) on bandwidth reduction according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present disclosure. The ACM aware traffic manager 400may represent an exemplary embodiment of the ACM aware traffic manager100. The following disclosure will describe the application of the ACMaware traffic manager 400 utilizing WFQ to preserve a CIR on bandwidthreduction with reference to a normal radio link 408 having a bandwidthof 100 Mbps, and a reduced radio link 410 having a bandwidth of 50 Mbps.However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the related art(s) thatother bandwidths are possible without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. Additionally, each of the specificbandwidths allocated to each of the service packets are provided forillustrative purposes only, and they are not intended to be the onlypossible bandwidths for each of the service packets, and they are notmean to limit this disclosure.

WFQ is another mechanism utilized by the ACM aware traffic manager 400to preserve the CIR. In particular, WFQ is a data packet schedulingtechnique assigning different scheduling priorities to statisticallymultiplexed data flows. The CIR represents a bit rate that a serviceprovide is required to provide to its customer. Therefore, at any giventime, the bandwidth should not fall below this CIR. Also, an excessinformation rate (FIR) is an allowance of burstable bandwidth, which maybe provided by the service provider in addition to the CIR. Therefore,the service provider guarantees that a connection will always supportthe CIR rate, and sometimes the EIR rate provided that there is adequatebandwidth. Further, the CIR plus the EIR may be either equal to or lessthan the speed of an access port into a network.

The ACM aware traffic manager 400 may receive a plurality of servicepackets 402. Each of the service packets 402 may include the CIR, theEIR, or a combination of both the CIR and the EIR. The ACM aware trafficmanager 400 may then allocate specific weights 404 to each of theservice packets 402 based on the CIR and the EIR contained within eachservice packet 402. The weights 404 allocated to each service packet 402may represent a percentage of a total bandwidth available on the radiolink 408. In an exemplary embodiment, the specific weights 404 allocatedto each service packet 402 must equal the total of the CIR plus any EIRassigned to that specific service packet 402. Each of the weightedservice packets are transmitted over the radio link 408. In an exemplaryembodiment where the same Class of Service Queues (CoS) are used for CIRand EIR bandwidth (drop eligible packets 306 and drop non-eligiblepackets 308), CIR bandwidth is guaranteed if:Link_(—) BW*Queue_Weight>=CIR bandwidth.

In an exemplary embodiment where the bandwidth of the radio link 408 isreduced (shown as reduced radio link 410), then the ACM aware trafficmanager 400 allocates updated weights 406 to each service packet 402 tosupport the CIR in each service packet 402. Therefore, the CIR in eachservice packet 402 remains the same, while the EIR in each servicepacket may change, and may be distributed among different servicepackets 402, and at different proportions, then previously existed priorto the bandwidth reduction. In such an exemplary embodiment, the updatedweights 406 can be calculated using the following formula:Updated Weight=CIR/Radio Bandwidth.

An Exemplary ACM Aware Traffic Manager Using Redirection

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of ACM aware traffic managers 500.1 and500.2 using redirection according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent disclosure. The ACM aware traffic managers 500.1 and 500.2 mayeach represent an exemplary embodiment of the ACM aware traffic manager100. The following disclosure will describe the application of the ACMaware traffic managers 500.1 and 500.2 using redirection with referenceto normal radio links 508.1, 508.2 and 510.1 each having bandwidths of100 Mbps, and a reduced radio link 510.2 having a bandwidth of 50 Mbps.However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the related art(s) thatother bandwidths are possible without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. Additionally, each of the specificbandwidths allocated to each of the service packets are provided forillustrative purposes only, and they are not intended to be the onlypossible bandwidths for each of the service packets, and they are notmean to limit this disclosure.

In exemplary embodiments where services can be transmitted throughdifferent links (e.g. link topology) the services may be redirectedfollowing a reduction in bandwidth of either a radio link 508.1 or508.2. In an exemplary embodiment, this service redirection can beimplemented by the ACM aware traffic managers 500.1 and 500.2.

The ACM aware traffic manager 500.1 is positioned at one end of theradio link 508.1, and the ACM aware traffic manager 500.2 is positionedat one end of the radio link 508.2. The ACM aware traffic manager 500.1may receive a plurality of service packets 502.1. The plurality ofservice packets 502.1 may include either a voice service packet 504.1 ora data service packet 506.1. Also, the ACM aware traffic manager 500.2may receive a plurality of service packets 502.2. The plurality ofservice packets 502.2 may include either a voice service packet 504.2 ora data service packet 506.2; however other service packets may beincluded in each of the service packets 502.1 and 502.2 withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The ACMaware traffic managers 500.1 and 500.2 may then allocate specific bitrates for each of the service packets 502.1 and 502.2, respectively,based on a set of priorities designated for each service packet 502.1and 502.2. These priorities may be stored within the ACM aware trafficmanagers 500.1 and 500.2. Each of the prioritized service packets 502.1and 502.2 are then transmitted over the radio links 508.1 and 508.2,respectively. Further, radio links 508.1 and 508.2 may be connected to acommon network.

In an exemplary embodiment, the ACM aware traffic managers 500.1 and500.2 may designate the voice service packets 504.1 and 504.2 as havinga highest priority and the data service packets 506.1 and 506.2 ashaving a lowest priority; however other priorities may be designated toeach of the service packets 502.1 and 502.2 without departing from thespirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Referring to the right half of FIG. 5, an exemplary embodiment of areduction in bandwidth of the radio link 508.2 is shown as reduced radiolink 510.2. In such an exemplary embodiment, the voice service packet504.2 is transmitted without any interruption. However, because of thereduction in bandwidth of the reduced radio link 508.2, the data servicepacket 506.2 is subject to being completely blocked. Therefore, the ACMaware traffic manager 500.2 redirects the data service packet 506.2 tobe transmitted over the radio link 510.1. In such an exemplaryembodiment, the data service packet 506.2 is combined with the dataservice packet 506.1 to form a combined data service packet 512. The bitrate for a service packet 514, which may now include the combined dataservice packet 512, is then reduced to match the available amount ofbandwidth remaining on the radio link 510.1. Therefore, even when thebandwidth of either radio link 508.1 or radio link 508.2 is reduced, theACM aware traffic managers 500.1 and 500.2 allow each of the servicepackets 502.1 and 502.2 to continue, while only reducing the bit rate ofthe combined data service packet 512.

An Exemplary Method of Optimizing Traffic Over a Wireless Link

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of exemplary operation steps of utilizing an ACMaware traffic manager to optimize traffic over a wireless link accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. The disclosure isnot limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s) from the teachings herein thatother operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of thepresent disclosure. The following discussion describes the steps in FIG.6.

A method 600 begins at step 620, where a plurality of service packets602 are provided to the ACM aware traffic manager 100. The method thenproceeds to step 630. In step 630, each of the plurality of servicepackets 602 is assigned a strict priority. The strict priority may bestored within the ACM aware traffic manager 100, and the ACM awaretraffic manager 100 may assign the strict priority to each of theplurality of service packets 602. The method then proceeds to step 640.In step 640, a predefined bit rate is allocated to each of the servicepackets 602 based on the strict priority assigned to each of the servicepackets 602. Following step 640, a plurality of predefined servicepackets 604 are formed. The method then proceeds to step 650. In step650, each of the plurality of predefined service packets 604 aretransmitted over at least one wireless link. The method then proceeds tostep 660. In step 660, an ACM event (e.g. a capacity change or a bitrate change of at least one of the wireless links) is detected. Themethod then proceeds to step 670. In step 670, an adapted bit rate isapportioned to each of the service packets 602 based on the strictpriority assigned to each of the service packets 602, and based on thebit rate change of at least one of the wireless links. Following step670, a plurality of adapted service packets 606 are formed. The methodproceeds to step 680. In step 680, each of the plurality of adaptedservice packets 606 are retransmitted over at least one of the wirelesslinks.

CONCLUSION

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notthe Abstract section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims.The Abstract section may set forth one or more, but not all exemplaryembodiments, of the invention, and thus, are not intended to limit theinvention and the appended claims in any way.

The invention has been described above with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries may be defined so long as thespecified functions and relationships thereof are appropriatelyperformed.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) that variouschanges in form and detail can be made therein without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention. Thus the invention should not belimited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but shouldbe defined only in accordance with the following claims and theirequivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. An adaptive traffic manager assembly, comprising:a computing module configured to operate on a current adaptive trafficmanager configuration; an adapting mechanism configured to adaptivelychange the current adaptive traffic manager configuration upon adetection of an Adaptive Code and Modulation (ACM) event; a switchassembly configured to receive a first signal over a wired link, and tooutput a second signal over a wireless link, and configured to store thecurrent adaptive traffic manager configuration; and a modem assembly,communicatively coupled to the switch assembly via the wireless link,configured to: poll an output port of the adaptive traffic managerassembly to determine a bit rate of the wireless link, detect the ACMevent, and in response to the detection of the ACM event, initiate achange to a modulation and coding scheme associated with the currentadaptive traffic manager configuration, in accordance with thedetermined bit rate of the wireless link.
 2. The adaptive trafficmanager assembly of claim 1, wherein the ACM event includes a capacitychange or a bit rate change of the wireless link.
 3. The adaptivetraffic manager assembly of claim 2, wherein the capacity change of thewireless link is caused by an external weather condition surrounding thewireless link.
 4. The adaptive traffic manager assembly of claim 2,wherein the change of the modulation and coding scheme occurs withinapproximately 1 millisecond following detection of the bit rate changeof the wireless link.
 5. The adaptive traffic manager assembly of claim4, wherein the current adaptive traffic manager configuration includesat least one of: Quality of Service (QoS), Class of Service Queues(CoSq), Port Shaping and Queue Shaping, Weighted Fair Queue (WFQ)Scheduler, Packet Classification, and Weighted Random Early Detection(WRED).
 6. The adaptive traffic manager assembly of claim 1, wherein theadapting mechanism stores a plurality of alternate adaptive trafficmanager configurations, wherein the alternate adaptive traffic managerconfigurations replace the current adaptive traffic managerconfiguration stored in the switch assembly upon detection of the ACMevent.
 7. The adaptive traffic manager assembly of claim 6, wherein theplurality of alternate adaptive traffic manager configurations arestored in, an external storage medium.
 8. The adaptive traffic managerassembly of claim 1, wherein the change to the modulation and codingscheme associated with the current adaptive traffic managerconfiguration occurs on a continuous basis.
 9. The adaptive trafficmanager assembly of claim 1, wherein the change to the modulation andcoding scheme associated with the current adaptive traffic managerconfiguration results in a corresponding change to the determined bitrate of the wireless link.
 10. The adaptive traffic manager assembly ofclaim 1, wherein the change to the modulation and coding schemeassociated with the current adaptive traffic manager configuration isperformed with hitless protection.
 11. A method of optimizing trafficover a wireless link, comprising: providing a plurality of servicepackets to at least one adaptive traffic manager assembly; operating theat least one adaptive traffic manager assembly according to a currentadaptive traffic manager configuration; assigning each of the pluralityof service packets a strict priority; allocating a predefined bit rateto each of the plurality of service packets based on the strict priorityassigned to each of the plurality of service packets to form a pluralityof predefined service packets; transmitting each of the plurality ofpredefined service packets over at least one wireless link; detecting anAdaptive Code and Modulation (ACM) event, wherein the ACM event includesa capacity change or a bit rate change of the at least one wirelesslink; selectively separating at least one of the plurality of servicepackets into at least two sub-service packets based on a frequency ofuse of individual services within the at least one service packet;adaptively changing the current adaptive traffic manager configurationsuch that an adapted bit rate is apportioned to each of the plurality ofservice packets, and to the at least two sub-service packets, based onthe strict priority assigned to each of the plurality of, servicepackets, and any sub-service packets, and based on the capacity changeor the bit rate change to form a plurality of adapted service packets;and retransmitting each of the plurality of adapted service packets overthe at least one wireless link.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein theplurality of service packets include at least one of: voice servicepackets, video service packets, and internet service packets.
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the separating occurs after the detecting ofthe ACM event, but before the apportioning of the adapted bit rate toeach of the plurality of service packets.
 14. The method of claim 13,wherein the strict priority assigned to each of the plurality of servicepackets are stored in the at least one adaptive traffic managerassembly, wherein the assigning each of the plurality of service packetsthe strict priority is performed by the at least one adaptive trafficmanager assembly based on a currently loaded active profile, and whereinthe active profile includes at least one of: Quality of Service (QoS),Class of Service Queues (CoSq), Port Shaping and Queue Shaping, WeightedFair Queue (WFQ) Scheduler, Packet Classification, and Weighted RandomEarly Detection (WRED).
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein theapportioning the adapted bit rate to each of the plurality of servicepackets includes redirecting at least one service packet from a firstwireless link, and combining the at least one redirected service packetwith at least one service packet from a second wireless link, andwherein the first and second wireless links are connected to a commonnetwork.
 16. The method of claim 11, wherein the assigning each of theplurality of service packets the strict priority is performed based on acommitted information rate (CIR) and an excess information rate (EIR)for each of the plurality of service packets, wherein the allocating thepredefined bit rate to each of the plurality of service packets includesallotting a weighted amount of a bit rate of the at least one wirelesslink to each of the plurality of service packets, and wherein theapportioning the adapted bit rate to each of the plurality of servicepackets includes designating an updated weighted amount based on the bitrate change of the at least one wireless link.
 17. The method of claim11, wherein the apportioning the adapted bit rate to each of theplurality of service packets includes reducing an average queue depth bydiscarding at least one of the plurality of service packets based on thestrict priority assigned to each of the plurality of service packets,and wherein the reducing the average queue depth maintains a constanttransmission delay both before and after the ACM event.
 18. An adaptivetraffic manager system, comprising: a first wireless communicationdevice configured to change a current first adaptive traffic managerconfiguration according to an Adaptive Code and Modulation CACM) event;a second wireless communication device configured to change a currentsecond adaptive traffic manager configuration according to the ACMevent, wherein the first and second wireless communication devicescommunicate over an adaptive wireless link; a first modem assemblyelectrically connected via the adaptive wireless link to an output portof the first wireless communication device; and a second modem assemblyelectrically connected via the adaptive wireless link to an output portof the second wireless communication device, wherein the first andsecond modem assemblies are configured to respectively poll the outputports of the first and second wireless communication devices to detect acapacity change or a bit rate change of the adaptive wireless link, andare further configured to detect the ACM event based on the detectedcapacity change or bit rate change of the adaptive wireless link. 19.The adaptive traffic manager system of claim 18, wherein the first andsecond wireless communication devices each include: a switch assemblyconfigured to receive a first signal over a wired link, to output asecond signal over the adaptive wireless link, and to store itsrespective current adaptive traffic manager; a storage unit configuredto store a plurality of shadow configurations; and a computing moduleconfigured to load at least one of the plurality of shadowconfigurations into the switch assembly upon detection of the ACM event.20. The adaptive traffic manager system of claim 19, wherein the firstand second wireless communication devices each include a physical layerand a network layer, and wherein the physical layer and the networklayer are configured to change the first and second current adaptivetraffic manager configurations according to the ACM event.
 21. Theadaptive traffic manager system of claim 19, wherein the ACM eventincludes the capacity change or the bit rate change of the adaptivewireless link, and wherein the capacity change or the bit rate change ofthe adaptive wireless link is caused by an external weather conditionsurrounding the adaptive wireless link.
 22. The adaptive traffic managersystem of claim 21, wherein the plurality of shadow configurations areloaded into the switch assembly within approximately 1 millisecond toapproximately 3 milliseconds following the detection of the ACM event.23. The adaptive traffic manager system of claim 22, wherein the firstand second current adaptive traffic manager configurations include atleast one of: Quality of Service (QoS), Class of Service Queues (CoSq),Port Shaping and Queue Shaping, Weighted Fair Queue (WFQ) Scheduler,Packet Classification, and Weighted Random Early Detection (WRED).